Panzer Primer

Not much achieved model wise over the past few days, with the total output being the primer painting of these two ESCI Panzers. Thinking at the moment what schemes to paint these into...having never painted a DAK scheme before, I might try at least one out on either of these kits.

Airfix Universal Carriers Continued...

A few more Airfix Carriers, the one below is in its 4th painting scheme and was last with my German Forces, he gets around....
Group of four late War Carriers with Mickey Mouse Scheme, the latest Airfix decals that came with these were terrible, at least 3 times the thickness as previous sets I have acquired.

Below comparison shot with Vickers Light Tank also released from Airfix, not much difference in size, quite a nice companion set.

With almost fifty years in production, this little kit still has plenty of life in it.

Airfix 1/76 Universal Carrier

Here's a kit that has been mislabeled for forty five years, Airfix's venerable 'Bren' Gun Carrier and 6 Pounder Gun. Brought out in 1964 this kit is still going strong and why not...no completion from any other plastic kit producers. Actually a late model version 'Universal' Carrier these were produced in huge numbers and fought in every campaign and on practically all sides of World War Two. During the War NZ made these in Wellington and you can still find bits and pieces of them all over the country, in fact we have about a dozen of the wheels at work and use them on rails to move large hanger doors.
I can use these as the Mortar Platoon transport, 6 Pounder transport or part of the Carrier Platoon. I have around a dozen of these at various stages of completion.

For these four, I decided to mount some figures to show that they were transporting or on the move on the table. I used a set of figures that are only just a bit older than the kit itself, Airfix British Infantry. In my opinion these figures are way too skinny to wargame with so I decided to utilize them in another way, rather than leave them in a box somewhere.

Also added amongst the Airfix figures are a few 'Hong Kong' copies of Airfix 1/32 British Para's that I have had since the 70's.

Dusted with the airgun last week, these Carriers seem to be getting better with age.

Like most of my British Forces, these vehicles are adorned with decals from the British 51st Highland Division, with operated in North West Europe, and were thought to have underperformed whilst in theatre.

Airfix Vickers Mk VI Light Tank Update

This has been in the unfinished state for a couple of months now, so I decided to spent an hour on it tonight.
Initially I had made up my mind to give this the middle eastern Cantuer scheme but at the last moment decided on a 1940 BEF example in France.

Maybe a dry brush will bring out a few more details, however the lack of rivets on this kit is a real shame. I am far to lazy to attach some myself...

Actual example at Bovington Tank Museum in the UK, from which I copied the disruptive pattern scheme.

Matchbox M3A1 US Stuart: Re Weathered

Not Happy with the previous weathering on the US kit, I applied another layer tonight.
The extra five minutes of dry brushing has put my mind at rest, I am becoming pedantic...

ICM British Infantry WW1

Dave has been working on ICM's 1/35 scale British Infantry from World War One.
As far as I can tell, there is only two 1/35 scale sets around for this period.

They seem to be similar to Dragons 1st generations figures from the 1990's.

'Captain Blackadder' I presume?

Dave was saying that the poses on the box don't match what you really get...shades of Hat's WW1 ANZAC's.

He is still unsure whether he likes them or not, perhaps a wash will add some detail...

The grenade thrower seems to be the odd pose out, with the other figures being more or less at the ready, while 'Chuck' is all action. Cheers Dave.

Classic Matchbox LRDG Construction

My friend Dave has had the 'Classic' Matchbox Long Range Desert Group kit in his stash for months...this is quite unlike him as he is a frenzied kit constructor. He has finally started construction on this (as well as others to be posted). While airbrushing he added a touch of flat earth to the Buff and painted the bodywork. It came out with a nice creamy brown colour, not unlike the desert vehicles seen at the Army Museum at Waiouru.
Figures coming along nicely, I like the Battledress colouring here.

The Jeep figures, everybody loves a 'Lemon Squeezer'.

Matchbox M3A1 Stuart US Version

Straight off the back of the British 'Honey' comes the US M3A1 Version.
Again this was carried out following Matchbox's instructions, and like most US vehicles of the period its boring Olive Drab. Now looking at these photo's I may have to go back and do some more weathering as it is not apparent in these photo's where I have been. I find OD hides a heck of a lot of detail, especially at a 1/76 level.
Again I used the Matchbox decals except for the vehicle registration numbering which were black and invisible! Instead I used a spare Airfix offering in white.

I also painted the box and jerrican a different shade...but again this is lost in the photo's. I am not sure that I will go back to this kit and re-detail.

Matchbox Stuart British Version Complete

I finished this great little kit off tonight, and am well pleased with the results.
It is not very often I paint a kit to the set scheme on the box, especially to a desert pattern as I have had not much luck in the desert sand look. It would be fair to say that deciding to change my style of painting and application layers has made a real improvement in modeling outcome.
I was very hesitant to use the Matchbox decals as they were ancient, and I was correct in this thinking as they were very brittle and did not apply that well, so some were replaced with some more recent offering from Revell.

Having waited about twenty years to get my hands on this kit, I am pleased to say that it was well worth the wait. The next post will be on the US version.

Matchbox Stuart M3A1 Detailing

Last night I attached some kit to the rear of the two versions. From the spares box came spare running wheels, boxes, a pick axe, jerricans. Also added whip aerials cut from the half brush, a roll of wire from fuse wire and tinfoil tarps. For the British kit I also added a ammo bag for the belt ammo for the .30 cal Browning turret AA mount.
Weather today is a mess, heavy showers one moment and fine breaks the next with gusting southwest wind, however not too cold so during a break in the showers I ran out to the garage and managed to apply a primer base coat, which in the wind dried in 5 minutes.

Dusting Results Part Two

Some more pictures of 'Dustfest 09' this time with my mid war German Armour. PzIV above from Airfix.
Next up PzIII's from Matchbox and a ESCI top right.

Lastly two PzII, both rebuilds, one from Matchbox and the other from Fujimi.

Matchbox Stuart M3A1 Honey Construction Notes

Had a roaring fire on the go last night, and with a free weekend for a change I managed to complete both kits. After much thought I decided to construct both versions, The British Stuart and the the US M3A1 Honey. They will both be for display so I tended to be a little more careful than usual in the construction process.

Above the running gear, hassle free and crisp moulding, although the top idler wheels are tiny and given there location on the kit a pain to place. Insert with tweezers here.

Instructions Part 1 and 1a complete. A nice fit was achieved here.

Instruction parts 2 and 3. Again no problems...However with the rubber/vinyl tracks being 25-30 years old I was anticipating a little trouble so I soaked them in fairly warm to hot water in order to give them a degree of flexibility. This seemed to work good and no cracking appeared. the tracks are well detailed and not too thick, again much better than Hasegawa's offerings.

Above Parts 4,5 and 6 for the British version. The British version in this kit was equipped with the earlier riveted turret and two of the three hull MG's were dispensed with. I chose to open the turret hatch, but cannot see myself using the 'Monty' figure provided as he is just too popular.

This time the US M3A1 version with a cast turret, at the end of parts 4,5 and 6. The US version looks alot more streamlined. It would be great to see an M5 version in 1/76 or 1/72.

As per instructions the finished British Stuart, I will dress this up a bit more with jerricans etc.

And lastly the finished M3A1. The extra Hull MG's make this a nasty beast. The decal set provided with this kit are original and look a little too old to use, so I will have to dig out something from the spares box. All in all this kit is well worth the effort, with great fitting parts, good moulding and options of versions this kit is value for money even after thirty years.

Matchbox Stuart M3/A1 Honey

Arrived by todays Post, two Matchbox Stuarts. One more kit type is now off the wishlist, as I have been after one of these for years...ever since Chintz stonked my Sherman with one on my first wargame over twenty years ago. Since there are two versions contained in the kit I intend to build both British and US types for display (This weekend if I pull finger!).